October 8th-12th
This week we had four groups in at Mission of Hope that we got to take part in hosting and also work alongside in ministry. In total we had about 75 people on base! One of the groups held a Medical clinic, two were doing SMT and kid’s clubs in Santiago, and the fourth was doing manual labor and a couple of kid’s clubs in Santiago as well. Some of the groups did’t only do the things listed, but that was the majority of their week. As the World Race team, we had an amazing opportunity to work with Oceans Church from Dustin, Florida. We went down to Santiago every day, which is about a hour and a half drive from the base in Jarabacoa. The mornings were spent in smaller groups doing SMT in some Haitian communities and the afternoons were spent hosting an open kid’s club in one of those Haitian communities.
SMT:
SMT was amazing! The families from Oceans were truly great to work with. They have a great heart for community and relationship, and they brought a great energy forward into blessing people. I was in a small group with one girl from my team, the pastor of Oceans (Michael), and a translator. The Haitian communities are very different that the Dominican ones that I have been a part of up until this point. Many of them fled Haiti for a better life and are living in deep poverty without ever hearing of Jesus. Haiti is a very dark place spiritually and the people that flee are in great need of God. The language barrier is also very different because they all speak Creole or French, not Spanish, so that was something new I had to navigate this week, but Praise God for our amazing translators!
Throughout the mornings of SMT, I personally talked to 5 different people/families and in each group we were able to bless and pray over each one. First was M. She is 73 years old and loves Jesus with her whole heart! When we asked her “Who is Jesus to you?”, she replied with, “My everything, I wouldn’t be anything without him. He is my whole life”. We talked to her for half an hour, and then prayed over her. She then prayed over us and we said goodbye. She has a great heart for the Lord and I’m so grateful that God sent us to affirm her in that and bless her. Next, we stopped on the street to talk to a young man (23). He works construction and goes to the local church that we had an opportunity to visit be a part of that Sunday! He just recently gave his life to Jesus and is still navigating it, but we still got to pray over him and speak good things over who God is creating him to be. We ended up seeing him all week because he joined us in helping at the kid’s club! The third person we talked to on Monday was a woman who was in her 30’s. She has three kids, and doesn’t really know the Lord. She claimed to believe he was real, but didn’t believe he was real enough for her. She didn’t want to have a relationship with him. She didn’t seem as accepting of our conversation once we mentioned God and didn’t have interest in hearing the Gospel. She does go to the local church as well, so through them we are going to make sure that she gets a bible and all we can do is pray that she finds God for herself. On Tuesday, we met an amazing Woman (G), and one of her sons. Her husband was at work and her other two children were at school. She shared with us that a few months ago she fled Haiti and found the first house she could get in a community of other Haitians who ran. She used to sing at her church in Haiti and misses it a lot. We sang a few worship songs with her and praised the Lord! We talked to her for a long time and played with her son as we talked. It was another great person to connect with and build up in their faith. We learned that she goes to the local church as well and really appreciates the pastor and community there. We prayed all together, blessing each other and then said goodbye. On Wednesday, our World Race team was a little smaller so we split off from the Oceans group. We spent all morning with one family in front of their house just sharing joy with them. I spent most of my time there pouring into a few of the children while some others talked with the family. We found out that they all kind of have a “Half-in, Half-out” faith. They aren’t all confident in who the Lord is, but they do believe he is real. They were so grateful that we could watch the kids while they got some housework done. We prayed over them, and they told us they were so grateful to have met us and they seemed more open to the love of Jesus. On Thursday, I went out with a family of 4 from Oceans. The parents (Chris and Jamie) and their two kids were absolutely wonderful to work with. We found a Haitian family who needed clean water, so through the church we were able to provide one for them, which was more of a blessing than we’ll probably ever understand. It was two young women and quite a few children living in the house, and none of them had a faith. They said they were really needing change in their life, seeing as they weren’t making much money and their house was only one room with no electricity or clean water. We prayed over them and as we were leaving Chris felt called to help provide something for them. We went into a store and their family purchased a large box full of food and other necessities for the family with the Pastor. We went and gave them the supplies and Chris said “I told you change was going to come from God”. It was so beautiful to see the hearts of this family to provide for those in need, and I’m so blessed just to have worked with anyone from Oceans Church.
Kid’s Club:
Kid’s club was in the afternoon each day. We held it in a small basketball court that had a small building off to the side. It was just an open club where parents could drop their kids off for a few hours and we would play with them. Each day we fluctuated in numbers, but we averaged at about 50-80 kids. We told a couple of bible stories and acted them out for the kids, and they loved it! At the end of each day we gave each kid a variety of snacks before sending them home. Through the club, it was another reminder that the need of Haitian communities is just different from Dominican communities. These kids were very attached to us and didn’t want to be alone whatsoever. They were almost desperate for affection and attention, and I’m very grateful that we were able to give them the love and affection they may not be getting at home all in the name of Jesus. I particularly connected with one girl this week! L is 14 years old and spoke a small bit of English, and quite a bit of Spanish, but her first language is Creole. She spent every day with me asking me questions and wanting to play. I loved being around her and I look forward to continue the connection with her through email.
Prayer Requests:
-Pray for M, that she would continue to seek the Lord. Pray that she is a huge light in the lives of her Children and grandchildren and that through her they would see God.
-Pray for the young man working Construction, that the church would be able to pour into him and that he would get closer to Jesus every day. Pray for confidence in his Spirit!
-Pray for the woman we met on her porch. That she would get a bible from the church and hear the truth of the Gospel from the Pastor. Pray that she would find the truth of Jesus and that he would invade her heart and mind.
-Pray for G, that she would never stop singing for God! Pray for Jesus’s light to shine off her more and more every day, and that people would never be able to miss it. Pray that she finds a place in the church to start singing again.
-Pray for the family that gave us the opportunity to pour into their kids. Pray that Jesus would become a regular part of their home and something that isn’t so Luke-warm. Pray for overall health of their family
-Pray for the two young girls and their family, that God would never stop providing change for them. Pray that they would find Jesus in the hardship and in the changes. Pray that God would never stop changing their lives for the better!
-Pray for each child that came to kid’s club. We have no idea what their lives look like at home, but pray for each family. Pray that they would all come to know Jesus for themselves. Pray that we were more of a light to them than we’ll ever know or understand.
Pictures from this busy week!
